lady Chatterley Roy Jenkins, MP, L. J. Blom-Cooper Brave New
Underworld Kenneth Allsop, Ian Sainsbury, R. L. Archdale, R. P. Trevor Israel Jon Kimche. Gertrude Elias, T. Sandbank South Africa Randolph Vigne
Wedehouse and Chandler Charles Hamblen Tampering with Food Doris Davy
A South African Scholarship Rev, J. M. Irvine LADY CHATTERLEY
SIR--As the sponsor of the Obscene Publications Act of 1959 I am surprised and distressed to learn 0,f the recent policy of the Director of Public. Prosecutions. The Act was based upon the unani- mous report of the Select Committee on the subject, and was a compromise designed to give the police the stronger powers for which they had asked in dealing with the trade in pornography, while afford- literary greater security to works with any claim to merit. Official witnesses stated that they Would be quite happy to give full immunity even 1() works on the borderline of literature provided weY had powers to deal with the obViously porno- ,-,graphic. The following interchange between the Commissioner of Metropolitan Police and myself the questioner) made the matter quite explicit :
Suppose that it were possible to get more effective means of proceeding against the really filthy stuff, would it be a matter of comparative indifference to the police what happened to the borderline stuff?—Complete indifference. Even if the position in getting prosecutions Was made rather more difficult?--Completely.
_ The powers which the police asked for 1116, have L'tow received. Why, therefore, cannot the Director show a little good sense and respect the compromise? from not our prosecuting authorities learn a little the illiterate mistakes of their predecessors? Yours faithfully, !louse of Commons, SW 1 Sul
ROY JENKINS
Previous page
